Fred W. Haise, Jr., was a research pilot and an astronaut for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from 1959 to 1979. He began his NASA career at the Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, OH (today the Glenn Research Center), in 1959. He transferred to NASA's Flight Research Center at Edwards, CA, in 1963, where he served for three years as a research pilot until being selected to become an astronaut in 1966 and reassigned to astronaut training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

His best-known assignment at what is now named the Armstrong Flight Research Center was as a pilot of the wingless lifting bodies. He also flew a variety of other research and support aircraft, including the variable-stability T-33A to simulate the M2-F2 heavyweight lifting body, several light aircraft including the Piper PA-30 to evaluate their handling qualities, the Apache helicopter, the Aero Commander, the Cessna 310, the Douglas F5D, the Lockheed F-104 and T-33, the Cessna T-37, and the Douglas C-47.

After becoming an astronaut, Haise served as a backup crewmember for the Apollo 8, 11, and 16 missions. He flew on the aborted Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, spending 142 hours and 54 minutes in space before returning safely to Earth. Haise served as the Technical Assistant to the Manager of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Project from 1973 to 1976. In 1977, he and NASA astronaut Gordon Fullerton flew three of the five free flights of the space shuttle prototype Enterprise on its Approach and Landing Tests at Edwards Air Force Base, CA.

Haise left NASA in 1979 to become the Vice President for Space Programs with the Grumman Aerospace Corporation. He then served as President of Grumman Technical Services, an operating division of Northrop Grumman Corporation, from January 1992 until his retirement.

Haise underwent flight training with the U.S. Navy, completing that in 1954 and becoming a fighter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1954 to 1956. He also served as a tactical fighter pilot with the U.S. Air Force from October 1961 to August 1962. Meanwhile, he graduated with a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1959. Later, he graduated from the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1964 as its outstanding graduate. He is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Among his awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Haley Astronautics Award, the General Thomas D. White Space Trophy, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and the NASA Special Achievement Award.